Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone got any tips left for my 4 year old king who hasnt eaten for 4 months and has lost 27 grams in weight, he is 5.5 - 6 ft long. cage temps are 80 during the day and drop to 72-70 during night. I have tried all colors mice, diff kinds of mice, rats, gebrils. I have tried braining and live and dead prey. Nothing works. its like he is scared of them and when i leave prey in his tank he keeps being active all the time wanting to go out of the tank or crawls under the sub...
Take him to the vet or any last tips i could try?

greets,

michiel

btw he has shed twice in those 4 months

is that a current pic?if so looks fine to me? snakes will go off feed for:
1 stress
2 internal clock says brumate/then breed,,, forget food!
3 parasites/illness
now you can rule whatever out but to have gone 4months w/o food that snake looks awsome, also if it has internal parasites forcefeeding will do no good you will need a vet to administer meds,,,,,,,good luck
thomas

I have a male, a smaller fellow about 3-4' and hes doing the same exact thing. I have tried all the same things too. Although he does seem interested for a while, then backs away and tries getting out. I would also like to know how to get him to eat.

Dan

MINE DOES THE SAME
he shows interrest and wents into attack mode and then gets scared and never strikes and then tries to get out

If the situation was that severe with a snake of mine, I would take a fuzzy and force feed him. Forget the BS about stressing him. Fed is better than dead. I would never let a snake starve for four months before doing it.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Did you cool your snake down at all this winter? Lots of snakes go off their feed all winter even if you don't lower the temperatures. They just seem to know it is time to hibernate. One thing that might work is put him in total darkness and some nice cool temps for a month. He should not lose much more weight if the temperatures are cool enough. He should eat after you take him out and warm him up. This has worked for me many times in the past. From looking at the pic he did not look that skiny. I would not freak out yet.

My 2 year-old mexican black king hasn't accepted food since early December, and confines herself to the area under the substrate in the coldest part of her terrarium. Also, she appeared to be ready to shed in late December, but has not done so as yet. She does seem to have lost weight, but does not show any signs of being sick or distressed, other than being annoyed when I check on her or try to pick her up. Should I just lower the temperature and leave her alone for a while?

I wouldn't worry too much, I had a hatchling JCP and Western Hognose snake both go off of feed for about 2 months last year...Although I think I'm with Frank, I attempted force feeding both of them at 2 months, but I got nervous and backed out...I was about to take them to the vet, but then after some modifing to their enclosures for one they both ate...At four months, if you've already tried warmer temps, I'd take him to the vet...I never tried live with my snakes so if they turned down live, I would think a trip to the vet would be in order...if nothing is wrong then get someone who knows how to force feed, do it.
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0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu
0.0.1 Baby Aru Green Tree Python R.I.P. 01/26/04
2.1 Bearded Dragon
0.0.4 Hatchling Bearded Dragons
1.1 Honduran Milksnake
1.0 Florida Brooksi Kingsnake
1.0 Blood Red Cornsnake
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.0 Western Hognose Snake
1.0 Bull Mastiff

My male cali was brought out of brumation early, he was a finiky eater last spring and summer (breeding) and never really got into "eating" once breeding season was over. He was losing weight too fast, and I was worried we would lose him. I tried mice and rats, and finally gave him a bucket full of pinkies and fuzzies, and lo and behold, he crawled in, killed most of them, and ate half of them. Now I feed him a bucket of fuzzies every few weeks, and he's putting on weight. HOpefully his brumation was long enough, as I have plans to breed him in a month or so. Meanwhile I'll be fattening him up.

IF that picture is a recent one, I would suggest that force feeding is an unwise decision. He looks healthy, and if his denying food has been over the winter, he has obviously planned on brumation, and nature has dictated this. You mentioend how much weight he lost.... from what weight to what weight? The actual weights will help many on here know if he has had a drastic reduction in weight, or a minor redcuction in weight. If you've kept him warm and tried to feed him while he has wanted to brumate, my guess is that he has spent more energy with the warmer temps, but had no appetite, so he's burned more calories.

Anyway, my two cents.
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~Sasheena

he weight around 750 grams and is around 5.5 - 6 feet long and sheds in 1 time i measured his shed and it was 2 meters long.
he now weights 723. he was much thicker then on the pic and when i hold him by his tail he cant pull himself upanymore and just wants to let himself fall on the ground and showing no illness at all, shining and active. And loves to be held.

Your snake doesn't look too bad to me. I would say it is a seasonal fast. I would hold off on the force feeding for sure. The weight loss is likely due to the fact that he wasn’t cooled and his metabolism was still going all through his fast.

I had planned to put some of my males into brumation on a certain date this year but they told me otherwise. They went off food when their bodies told them and I listened… after a month of fighting it: D. Then I took them out on my schedule and they decided to start eating again when THEY chose to. They know what they are doing.

Now, that's not to say you should ignore every symptom you think you see but force feeding is getting a little a head of the game at this point (in my opinion). I would give him another month or so before you take action. His clock will tell him when to start eating again. Try offering smaller food items about once a week and be patient.

Good luck and keep us posted.
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There is absolutley NO reason to force-feed that snake. If it's 5 1/2 ft long I'd estimate it's weight at at least 600-700 grams. If it lost 30 g than it lost less than 5% of it's weight. Snakes lose around 3% when they shed! For a king to stop eating from October to February is not only no cause for concern, it's typical. You could even cool him down now for a month or two. He may not eat until after the breeding season. And if he does the same thing this year, cool him down. Then he won't lose any weight. Just my opinion.
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Martin Whalin

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld
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Maybe i should just introduce him to a female and see if he wants to have some sex0r
hehe

I'd never force feed a snake, and if that would be the only solution i'd let an expert do it after proffesional advice.

I haven't read the rest of the replys so if I am being redundant, I appologize. My 4 year old desert phase cal fasts every year from Oct to March like clockwork. When she starts feeding again you'd best not have your hand in the cage with the rat or she'll chomp you too. Your snake may just be a winter faster and that is perfectly normal. First step would be to rule out any problems, include a trip to a vet that does herps if it will calm your nerves but once all problems are ruled out the chances are your snake just likes to fast. if he starts eating again feed him for the spring and summer and if he goes off feed again in the fall you may want to brumate him next winter so he does lose much weight. Hope this helps